


Roads Less Traveled

by Mayamali



Series: 642 Miles + Other Tales From the Road [2]
Category: Left 4 Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Backstory, Gen, Past Character Death, Prequel, headcanons galore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:02:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25639957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mayamali/pseuds/Mayamali
Summary: Before New Orleans - before the swamps and dark carnivals and burning hotels - it was just them.
Relationships: Coach/Original Character, Nick/Original Character, Rochelle/Original Character
Series: 642 Miles + Other Tales From the Road [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726270
Kudos: 5





	Roads Less Traveled

**Author's Note:**

> eyyyy i'm still working on 642. i wrote these as little reminders of how to write each character, the little backstories i came up with for them, and i want to share them!!

Rochelle didn't want to be on television. She had never been the type to jump into the spotlight, steal the show. Once, in high school, her best friend Ava convinced her to audition for a play with her. But when the cast list went up without Rochelle's name on it, it was a relief. What she _did_ like was delegating.

Rochelle always liked being trusted, being put in charge, and she had been much more interested in the crew positions than the stage ones. So while Ava went full diva, Rochelle was behind the scenes, helping the crew. It didn't last, though. Theater didn't call to her, even when she was the stage manager in her last year of high school. Her favorite part of school was the research. Her school counselor pegged her for journalism almost immediately, and she couldn't disagree. Somehow, a bachelor's in journalism led her to television.

Although, if she was being honest with herself, it was a miracle she had gotten her bachelor's at all. That first year of college was a blur of sneaking into clubs and dorm room parties. Rochelle was a smart girl; she figured she could put studying to the wayside for a bit. College was the time to be free and really _live_ , right? Except at the end of the first semester, she was close to failing most of her core classes. And staring at her grades, thinking of how to explain to her parents what had happened, she finally buckled down. No more parties, no more clubs - just her and the library on the weekends.

Once she graduated, she was lucky enough to find the one station in Ohio that was willing to take a chance on her. Unfortunately, that was about where her luck ran out. From there, she had to fight tooth and nail to get out of being a glorified errand girl. It took seven years to pay off. 'Associate producer' wasn't quite what she was aiming for, but it was certainly an upgrade. And somehow, between fetching coffee and lugging around cables, she had met Jacob.

Rochelle was never the type to keep to herself. She had had boyfriends in high school and the occasional fling in college. But Jacob was different. She _liked_ him. He was her cheerleader, her shoulder to lean on, and he never failed to make her laugh. After a year, they had moved in together, and he became a domestic god. Packed lunches and sticky notes made the grind worth it. Hell, even her parents liked him.

But then the Green Flu hit, and Rochelle suddenly found herself with no reporters to actually... report. All of them insisted on self-quarantine, paranoid of this bug that seemed to have taken the East Coast by storm. But she wanted to do a story on it. Her boss agreed and immediately suggested _she_ go out to Savannah to report. They both thought it was far enough away that she should be safe. He bought the ticket for her and everything.

Jacob immediately took issue with it when she brought it up to him. "Ro, you can't seriously be thinking about this," he'd said, snapping off his gloves over the sink. The dishes were only half-done, so she knew he was upset.

"This is my job, baby," she'd replied. "Besides, if people see how CEDA is handling things - how they're _helping_ \- maybe they'll start to calm down a little."

"You saw the reports out of Pennsylvania. Hell, you damn near cried when Calvin finally called! And now you're saying it's not that bad?"

"Don't bring him into this," Rochelle warned, voice low. Her little brother Calvin had just gone back to Yale for his second year, and Connecticut wasn't that far away from Pennsylvania. She wistfully remembered laughing when he had said he wanted to study Economics. Thankfully, Calvin had managed to evacuate safely and called the second he could. "Last I checked, the furthest reported case was Baltimore, nowhere near Savannah. I'll be there and back before you know it, Jacob."

" _No_ , Ro. I love how seriously you take your job, I really do." Jacob sighed, reaching out to take her hands. "But maybe... this is a sign, you know? To settle down."

Rochelle stared up at him for a moment and laughed. "Jacob. You can't seriously be thinking about that right now."

"Why not? I love you, Ro - it can't hurt to talk about... about what's next."

"We can talk about it when I get back, Jacob. I _want_ to go. This could be a chance to show I'm capable of more than just... just hauling cables around!"

"Baby - you can't do this."

"Watch me."

It had been their first and last big fight. The next day, as she got ready to board the plane with her cameraman, Jacob had texted her. ' _Clearly, you aren't taking this as seriously as I am. Stay safe, but I won't be here when you get back._ '

And that was that. A year and a half, gone. Rochelle spent the flight staring out the window, numb and angry at the same time. What had he expected? That she'd just... give it up? Throw away seven years of fighting for respect so she could stay at home, pop out a few kids? Maybe he hadn't really ever known her at all. If he had, he would have known that Rochelle never settled for anything. Sure, finding someone to spend her life with would be nice, but that's all it was. What she really wanted was to _succeed_ , prove that she was capable.

They had only mentioned kids once. One night, shortly after they had moved in together, the condom broke. Rochelle had panicked. No kids. Not until she knew she could handle it. Jacob had been disappointed, to say the least. But she had put him in his place pretty quickly, and he seemed to respect her choice. Maybe he had run out of patience.

Whatever. There were more important things to think about than boy problems. Or how to explain to her mom that Jacob was a goner. So she focused on the scripts and the game plan. She didn't find out that the Green Flu had long-since passed Richmond until they landed.

And then some idiot had coughed on Mike when they checked into the hotel. He'd showered, washed his hands, put on new clothes - taken all the precautions. But it hadn't been enough, and Rochelle had had to stab him in the eye with a screwdriver.

She had never really thought about the difference between 'living' and 'surviving' before. But now she had an AK-47 in her lap, dirt on her cheeks, and scrapes on her knees. Her jeans were torn, and everything smelled like blood and mud. Now, the distinction was all too clear, and she wished it wasn't.

Now, she couldn't help but think, ' _Girl, you should've stayed with Jacob._ '


End file.
